We know that the design process is oen alternating between accidental discoveries and intentional experiments. It is a fun
slackline that starts with a direction and keeps stretching as we progress. To celebrate the unfinished, spontaneous, accidental, vernacular beauty of the prototyping process is our motivation.
slackline that starts with a direction and keeps stretching as we progress. To celebrate the unfinished, spontaneous, accidental, vernacular beauty of the prototyping process is our motivation.
Inviting the audience to engage in a dialog with the ideas and thoughts of students against the collective landscape of
HEAD-Genève. The project initiates a dialog centred on the cultural capital of student bodies, with the idea of questioning sustainability of consumption of art & design today.
HEAD-Genève. The project initiates a dialog centred on the cultural capital of student bodies, with the idea of questioning sustainability of consumption of art & design today.
Nothing is final, everything is always a work in progress.
The project started as a reaction to seeing prototypes endangered due to lack of resources / space and as a
result trashed or broken down after the project / semester ended. What if these prototypes find a way to thrive?
result trashed or broken down after the project / semester ended. What if these prototypes find a way to thrive?
The first step in this platform is to collect prototypes, submitted by students of HEAD-Geneva. These objects are then stored in a digital archive. The archive is a documentary by-product of the design process retained for their long-term value. Not all prototypes find their way into archives, perhaps it's the ones that hold value outside of their project context.
The best part is that it's ever-growing, can be accessed anytime and serves as the basis for the next (more exciting) step. All the objects here can be viewed, not purchased. The next step takes the shape of a temporary 3 days pop-up shop, which is a bi-annual event. We curate the prototypes in a pop-up sale, open to everyone. The pre-decided price for products can be paid in cash or by Twint. 85% of the sale amount is for the student (maker of the object) and the balance is directed to the costs of running the platform sustainably.
The first pop-up happened on 25th-26th-27th May 2021 at Batiment H of the HEAD-Genève school. All the objects on sale were prototypes created by students of the school across different disciplines and years.
These objects were presented to the audience in an immersive landscape, encouraging the viewer to walk through the passage to discover the objects, one at a time. This landscape converges into a valley, creating entropy with the curves. The height of the landscape elevates the objects, thus placing them at the eye level of the viewer. The journey through the landscape offers the viewer the opportunity of an intimate interaction with the objects on display.
One can absorb and appreciate the physical quality of the object, before scanning the QR code with their smartphones to read up more information about it. The objects curated for the sale were vernacular in nature. Made using different materials, for different project briefs, at different times, and finding their way together in this landscape.
Details of the installation:
Pop up shop footprint: 8m x 4m
Pop up shop height: 1.7m
Pop up shop height: 1.7m
Materials:
Wood, 6mm mdf panels, plaster, LED lights
All the wood sections have been disassembled for future reuse.
All the wood sections have been disassembled for future reuse.
Photo credits:
Raphaëlle Muller, Tejal Gala
Objects on sale in the first pop-up:
Bodice Vases by Noemi Castella
Can’t keep a Secret by Noemi Castella
Concorde & Concordia by Julia Pelicet
The Verbier Daily by Rachel Hoffmann
Full-Tej, Half-Tej & Quar-Tej by Tejal Gala (sold)
Wax Cactus by Thomas Cerato
Paper Frames by Seohyun Hui
Visages Noyes by Tim Casari (sold)
Ceramic Tile by Zahra Hakimm
Vaisselle Corallienne by Tim Casari
Canards by Tim Casari (sold)
Comp-lem-ent-aire by Tim Casari (sold)
Bottle Heads by Elias Njima
Eye Box by Marijose Galvan
Dovepack by Ana Iris Paris
Splace by Filza Parmar, Elsa Audoin & Thibault
Thesaurus by Thomas Lopes
Convivo Blanket by Karen Pisoni
Les Lunettes by Etienne Kurzaj
Ritual Masques by Karen Pisoni (sold)
Can’t keep a Secret by Noemi Castella
Concorde & Concordia by Julia Pelicet
The Verbier Daily by Rachel Hoffmann
Full-Tej, Half-Tej & Quar-Tej by Tejal Gala (sold)
Wax Cactus by Thomas Cerato
Paper Frames by Seohyun Hui
Visages Noyes by Tim Casari (sold)
Ceramic Tile by Zahra Hakimm
Vaisselle Corallienne by Tim Casari
Canards by Tim Casari (sold)
Comp-lem-ent-aire by Tim Casari (sold)
Bottle Heads by Elias Njima
Eye Box by Marijose Galvan
Dovepack by Ana Iris Paris
Splace by Filza Parmar, Elsa Audoin & Thibault
Thesaurus by Thomas Lopes
Convivo Blanket by Karen Pisoni
Les Lunettes by Etienne Kurzaj
Ritual Masques by Karen Pisoni (sold)
The project is not the end of an exploration, rather the beginning of an exciting journey.
The project was envisioned and executed under the mentorship of Malak Mebkhout and Rosario Hurtado
during my MA Space and Communication program at HEAD – Genève.
